Various

Various: Carry the Torch: A Tribute to Kid DynamiteCarry the Torch: A Tribute to Kid Dynamite (2009)Get Outta Town

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

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Contributed by: InaGreendaseBrian(others by this writer | submit your own)Published on July 31st 2009As if the countless clones that followed in their wake weren't enough proof, Kid Dynamite's legacy is further cemented by Carry the Torch, a massive, 39-song tribute that covers every track (double-edged) the band laid to tape. Just like none of those clones can or could quite match the brilliance a.

As if the countless clones that followed in their wake weren't enough proof, Kid Dynamite's legacy is further cemented by Carry the Torch, a massive, 39-song tribute that covers every track (double-edged) the band laid to tape. Just like none of those clones can or could quite match the brilliance and sincerity of Kid Dynamite's rapid-fire, gritty melodic hardcore, none of the bands here quite stack up to the originals -- but it's not to say they didn't make a solid effort.

While Smartbomb's take on "Heart a Tact" is refreshingly raw and scrappy, the urgency is brought to a screeching halt by Ernie Parada's half-acoustic take on "Bench Warmer" -- though it picks up the full-band, full-speed ahead approach halfway through, this probably should have been sequenced much further into the disc than 3rd. First to Leave, placed at track 14, sound more natural with their vacation island take on "S.O.S."

Broadway Calls add a wonderfully snotty and bass-heavy character to "Bookworm," making for one of the album's best moments. But then, one of the burliest bands, oddly enough, takes on one of KD's poppiest numbers when All Teeth tackle "Never Met the Gooch." It's an awkward juxtaposition, but it kinda works. Where a happy medium is reached between traits like this is Make Do and Mend's gruff and fast application to "Ronald Miller Story."

No Secrets Between Sailors is credited as the band doing "Living Daylights," but it's clearly Sakes Alive!!, who also do "News at 11" later on. Chris Vandeviver's vocals are harsh and scratchy like rusted nails and they totally nail the former. Their latter, though, oddly enough, has a pretty rough recording that muffles the intensity a bit.

Comadre have one of the most experimental covers in "Death and Taxes," with a bumbling bassy intro and hip-hop vinyl scratch, and later on adding European screamo elements; it's pretty refreshing. Representative of their pretty goofy nature, 12 Cent throw some xylophone plinks and such into "Pacifier," without making things too ridiculous (and is that an homage to None More Black's "Oh, There's Legwork" I hear at the end?). Curiously, No Harm Done's "Three's a Party" features "guest vocals" from Dan Yemin; it's definitely got a weird 'alternate universe' vibe, like if Biff still had the almanac...with less disastrous results. Yeems, along with Dave Wagenschutz, provide some nice retrospective tidbits in the liner notes too.

Bands that miss the mark a bit include Endgame, with their posthumous "Copout"; them not doing so well is a little weird since that band basically mastered the melodic Turning Point / Lifetime thing on their last EP. Static Radio NJ actually sound less like KD on "Give 'em the Ripped One" than they do their early stuff. To the Lions transform "Rid of the Losers, Bring on the Cruisers" into a beastly, metallic hardcore gallop; eh. And Stay Warm seem a little sluggish with their rendition of "Showoff."

Towards the end, No Trigger's "K05-0564" is solid and though their transition to the breakdown is a little sloppy, Latin for Truth otherwise do "Table 19" well. The highly anticipated "Fuckuturn" from the Ergs! delivers and Soldiers is one of the few bands to actually match KD's speed on "Introduction to the Opposites." Kill Conrad mess around with an "El Scorcho" drumbeat opening before launching into an okay "Rufus Wants a Hug." The keyboard intro to the Wonder Years' "Cheap Shot, Youth Anthem" is a little cheesy but the song is otherwise pretty straightforward. The production tricks on This Time Next Year's nasally vocals for "3 O'clock" might cause a few listeners to end the album one song early.

Overall, Carry the Torch just manages to do so, though maybe at a lagging pace. At an hour long it's a bit exhausting of a listen and not every band hits the mark, but it's a thorough and direct love letter all the same.

These songs just sound like really garbage versions of the original. I think Ernie Parada was the only person that actually tried to put an interesting spin on the song. Aside from that, this sounds just like a bad, bad cover record. I'll stick to the real deal, thanks.

This cd/ep is some of the best tribute material out there. The last three songs are my favorites from this"I used to think" "Faster than Disaster" and "Not Enough" are ecential material. Over It also contains the best version of "Reconected", in my opinion anyway. All in all, the best ep I own. I don't know hard this is to find nowdays, but I'm sure you can get it through the band's website, and you most certainly should.

lol this hasnt been commented 4 over an hour and all u fucking idiots need 2 calm down its just a cd and ya various artists doesnt suck theyre just different and u dumasses need 2 realize that instead of hate on theyre cds..

It must help that I was never a Kid Dynamite fan, because I actually found this compilation less 'skip prone' than most. Even the bands I don't normally like put forward some alright-sounding songs. I actually go all the way and delete a lot of songs off compilations, but I kept 20 of these 39 which is pretty good, I think.

This is terrible. Out of the 39 tracks, I think I was able to finish 2... and regretted those extra seconds I used to do so.

It's amazing that any of these bands thought they could do any of those brilliant songs justice at all. It's an insult that they even tried. I'm not ragging on these bands particularly (as there are some stellar ones on here), just their ability to play these iconic songs.

I want to say that because none of these covers or as good or better than the original, it's really not worth anyone's time. Of course, that's not completely true, but I found this to be pretty unpleasant. Even the better covers sounded mostly de-clawed, and there wasn't enough creative liberties taken to make the reduction in quality worthwhile.

Is it just me or do far too many people pay far too close attention to scores?

According to his username, he likes ska, so give him a break. He must get cranky wearing that helmet all day in the summer.

Kinda pisses me off that two of my favorite songs from SFL are butchered on this. This was kind of a let down, because there were some better bands that were going to do tracks originally that never did (Crime In Stereo, for one).